On Tuesday, Michael Crichton (the man who penned Jurassic Park, as well as the famous novel The Andromeda Strain) died of cancer. This didn't get much coverage because of the Presidential election, so I thought that I would mention this, and open it up to any discussion. I really loved his work and it's really sad that he's gone and won't continue to contribute intelligent and well-written novels to our society.

"Do not worry about your problems in mathematics -- I can assure you mine are still greater." - Albert Einstein

Oh my. I hadn't heard that he died... I read two of his books a few years ago, Airframe and Disclosure, and hated them both so much that I haven't read anything of his since. But I do intend to read Timeline and Sphere eventually, because I've heard that they're good.

Einstein wrote:On Tuesday, Michael Crichton (the man who penned Jurassic Park, as well as the famous novel The Andromeda Strain) died of cancer. This didn't get much coverage because of the Presidential election, so I thought that I would mention this, and open it up to any discussion. I really loved his work and it's really sad that he's gone and won't continue to contribute intelligent and well-written novels to our society.

Ha, I just started a thread in Current Events on this. I am somewhat devastated, I adored Michael Crichton.

True terror lies in the futility of human existence.

Malcolm Reynolds is my co-pilot.

"The only freedom deserving the name, is that of pursuing our own good in our own way, so long as we do not attempt to deprive others of theirs, or impede their efforts to obtain it. Each is the proper guardian of his own health, whether bodily, or mental and spiritual. Mankind are greater gainers by suffering each other to live as seems good to themselves, than by compelling each to live as seems good to the rest." - John Stuart Mill

....its the first movie i liked better than the book. of course that could be because i saw the movie a billion times before i read the book

"The truth may be out there, but lies are inside your head."

"Fifteen hundred years ago everybody knew the Earth was the center of the universe. Five hundred years ago, everybody knew the Earth was flat, and fifteen minutes ago, you knew that humans were alone on this planet. Imagine what you'll know tomorrow." - Kay, Men in Black

Einstein wrote:On Tuesday, Michael Crichton (the man who penned Jurassic Park, as well as the famous novel The Andromeda Strain) died of cancer. This didn't get much coverage because of the Presidential election, so I thought that I would mention this, and open it up to any discussion. I really loved his work and it's really sad that he's gone and won't continue to contribute intelligent and well-written novels to our society.

I'll agree with the "intelligent" but his stuff is hardly "well-written"... it's definitely penned for the masses! Anyway I enjoyed almost all his books that I read.... not for their literary merits, but for their suspense and great ideas.It is indeed a great shame the guy has "Passed on"... I seem to remember having a wee discussion about him in the "random thoughts" thread amonth or so ago.

What’s this shitty place? I’m off to another Kali Yuga! BrahmaAre we a butterfly’s dream or is the butterfly our dream - and who really gives a toss? Lao TsuQuit hassling me, you sicko! JobWhat? You gonna waste all of ‘em? Even the falafel sellers?Lot Ya mean I gotta honour them fuckers that dumped me in the Nile!? MosesWHERE THE HELL DID I PARK MY DAMN KARMA!ShakeYerMuni BuddhaDon’t step on my blue-suede sandals! Blue blue blue-suede sandals!Ol’ J CYou what Gabe!? Not even a wee sausage after Ramadan?MohamOh shit! It’s gonna be one of them bad-vibe incarnations! Dalai L

tris wrote:I'll agree with the "intelligent" but his stuff is hardly "well-written"... it's definitely penned for the masses!

?

Are you trying to say that "well-written" and "popular" are mutually exclusive? I will agree that Dan Brown should be beaten daily by his editor until he learns to write properly, but I always found Michael Chrichton to be both literate and accessible. There are many others I could think of: Carl Hiaasen; Iain Banks; Bill Bryson to name but a few. Literature doesn't have to be obscure and unintelligible.

"I don't mean to sound bitter, cynical or cruel; but I am, so that's how it comes out." ~ Bill Hicks."To argue with a person who has renounced reason is like administering medicine to the dead." ~ Thomas Paine."One should not believe everything one reads on the internet." ~ Abraham Lincoln."If you're making a political point wearing a balaclava, you're a c***. It was true for the IRA and it's true now." ~ daftbeaker.

I must say, I've quite enjoyed Jurassic Park. It's a good book, well-written, and popular. (I mean, it's had an entire generation of nerds wetting their pants at the very mention of a... Velociraptor.

To say that well-written and popular are mutually exclusive, well, there are a lot of books that are popular, and there are a lot of books that are well-written, and there are a lot of books that are both. Michael Crichton was both.

A flap of the wings yesterday means big changes tomorrow.Let's work together to keep the present inevitable.

Well, I'm no literary expert. Will take the advice - I'm getting bored with the crap offered in the 'library' at work. Deadly encounter and other stupid titles by Jackie Collins. The abstracts are hilarious, but every time someone at work offers one to me to 'read'... I can't even describe the feeling.

If quality and popularity were mutually exclusive, I hope the book I'm writing remains undiscovered. Maybe that's why no one has asked me to publish anything; 'cause it positively dripping with quality.

KMill wrote:If quality and popularity were mutually exclusive, I hope the book I'm writing remains undiscovered. Maybe that's why no one has asked me to publish anything; 'cause it positively dripping with quality.

Ooh, another forum member with creative talent. What kind of book is it?

On the good vs popular thing, I have one word for you, Discworld.

A casual stroll through the lunatic asylum shows that faith does not prove anything - Friedrich Nietzsche

The great thing about Beaker is his ability to provoke while still being decorous, or at least within acceptable rules of conduct - Qwertyuiopasd

Roy Hunter wrote: Are you trying to say that "well-written" and "popular" are mutually exclusive? ...... Literature doesn't have to be obscure and unintelligible.

No... not mutually exclusive, it's just that they rarely coincide! Anyway I enjoyed all the Crichton books I read, as well as The Da Vinci Code for that matter ... but that kind of "literature" doesn't have the linguistic verve and originality, the sophisticated style or the psychological depths of Ian McEwan for example.... It's just a rollicking good read which also stimulates the intellect... but if it wasn't for the interest of the ideas behind his books I'm sure Crichton wouldn't have reached anything like the level of success or popularity he did. I've read 5 or 6 of his works and I must say they were all pretty formulaic. (I explained this in another thread 1 or 2 months ago)

PS Are you trying to say that "well-written" means "obscure and unintelligible" (or vice-versa)??!!If that were so, then L Ron Hubbard's guide to Dianetics (or the electrotechnical "NICEIC Guide to Domestic Installation Work - Updated to IEE Wiring Regulations" for that matter!) would be "classics" of good literary style!!!!

PPS I liked your evocative spelling of "Chrichton", as if he is the Christ-chton of popular fiction!

What’s this shitty place? I’m off to another Kali Yuga! BrahmaAre we a butterfly’s dream or is the butterfly our dream - and who really gives a toss? Lao TsuQuit hassling me, you sicko! JobWhat? You gonna waste all of ‘em? Even the falafel sellers?Lot Ya mean I gotta honour them fuckers that dumped me in the Nile!? MosesWHERE THE HELL DID I PARK MY DAMN KARMA!ShakeYerMuni BuddhaDon’t step on my blue-suede sandals! Blue blue blue-suede sandals!Ol’ J CYou what Gabe!? Not even a wee sausage after Ramadan?MohamOh shit! It’s gonna be one of them bad-vibe incarnations! Dalai L

tris wrote:PS Are you trying to say that "well-written" means "obscure and unintelligible" (or vice-versa)??!!

No. Absolutely not. I am sick to death of idiots on arts shows who basically say "this book can't be literature because you see people reading it on the bus". There is nothing wrong with being both popular and good. If you are both popular and bad, you may as well change your name to Paris Hilton and be done with it.

tris wrote:PPS I liked your evocative spelling of "Chrichton", as if he is the Christ-chton of popular fiction!

Crighton / Chrighton is quite a popular name in Scotland. I just forgot how he spells it. My bad.

"I don't mean to sound bitter, cynical or cruel; but I am, so that's how it comes out." ~ Bill Hicks."To argue with a person who has renounced reason is like administering medicine to the dead." ~ Thomas Paine."One should not believe everything one reads on the internet." ~ Abraham Lincoln."If you're making a political point wearing a balaclava, you're a c***. It was true for the IRA and it's true now." ~ daftbeaker.